Bishop Ross Nicholson from St John’s Anglican Church in Launceston
On Sunday 24 April at 5.30pm members of church congregations and supporters of aid organisations including Oxfam, Save the Children and World Vision will come together in Civic Square for:
Standing Up to Make Malaria History: a candlelight Vigil …
Is a northern Tasmanian event to mark the World Malaria Day, which is an initiative of the World Health Organisation http://www.worldmalariaday.org
Organised by the northern Tasmanian team of the Campaign for Australian Aid Standing Up to Make Malaria History: a candlelight Vigil will focus on this debilitating and often fatal disease and what can be done to prevent and treat it. It will also demonstrate public support for Australia to take appropriate action to free the world of this debilitating disease by 2030.
MC for the event will be Bishop Ross Nicholson of St Johns Anglican Church, Launceston.
“Malaria accounts for 40% of all public health spending in Africa. Imagine the schools, hospitals, the general infrastructure that could be built if malaria were eradicated and those resources released to alleviate the other problems of Africa!” Bishop Nicholson
Malaria is a preventable and treatable disease however half of the world’s population remains vulnerable to malaria, particularly children and pregnant women. In 2015 the WHO estimated there were still 214 million new malaria cases worldwide and about 438,000 deaths.
Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites and is transmitted via the bites of infected Anopheles mosquitoes. The use of insecticide, drug treatments and mosquito nets have helped reduce mortality from malaria.
From 2000 – 2015 global efforts have resulted in global death rates due to malaria dropping by 60%, however we are now seeing the emergence of new forms of drug-resistant malaria which could reverse this trend, especially in the Asia Pacific region.
Although Malaria is not endemic to Australia travellers to countries where it is found including tourists, our defence forces and those travelling for business, are at risk.
This event is organised by the northern Tasmanian team of the Campaign for Australian Aid, a joint initiative of the Make Poverty History and Micah Australia coalitions supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Kaye Dowling
